Maintaining our Medical Edge: Strategic Partnerships at Home and Abroad

Over two decades, the Global War on Terror drove unprecedented advances in military medicine and surgery, leading to the highest survival rates for wounded United States service members in history. However, hard-won medical expertise routinely erodes between wars in a phenomenon known as the “peacetime effect.” Today, only 10 percent of U.S. military general surgeons are prepared to deliver combat casualty care.

Could sending medical teams into today’s disaster and conflict zones help combat the peacetime effect and help us win tomorrow’s war?

On February 23-24, 2026, Perry World House, with co-sponsorship from the Wyss Foundation, convened scholars and policy experts to examine how medical engagement in these dynamic, episodic settings can strengthen military readiness. As a stark reminder of the urgency of these discussions, this conference marked the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (February 24, 2022) and concluded only days before the United States and Israel launched major operations in Iran (February 28, 2026.)

This report synthesizes key takeaways from this conference.